Quake
by Poisoned Scarlet
Summary: All she could concentrate on was the mirage that was Ed and that was slowly, cruelly, fading away as the pain reached a crescendo and her mind fuzzed in and out. – a revisit to chapter 104. Heavy spoilers. EdxWin.


_**Quake  
**__**by. **Poisoned Scarlet_

**Summary: **_All she could concentrate on was the mirage that was Ed and that was slowly, cruelly, fading away as the pain reached a crescendo and her mind fuzzed in and out. – _a revisit to chapter 104. Heavy spoilers. EdxWin.

**Authors Note: **_I almost pounded my computer to pieces when I read that chapter. It was so suspenseful! I can't wait for the next chapter to come out... why, oh, why, is FMA updated _**_monthly_**_?! I hope you enjoy this one-shot, because this is my own version of what happened since Arakawa didn't really draw out the events._

_REVIEWS WOULD BE DEEPLY APPRECIATED!!_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist although I do own volumes 10 – 16 currently :D_

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"Hahaha! You damn bastard! I knew somethin' was up with you and that girl – I just knew it! Didn't I tell ya'? Well, didn't I?"

"You sure did!"

There was a roar of laughter from the living room and Winry pinched her nose as they cracked some dirty jokes and the women inside the room joined in on the fun. She heard them make snooty comments and go as far as making explicit jokes. This only made the men inside the room even rowdier than before. It astonished the young mechanic how people in their 60's and 70's were still exuberant and full-of-life.

Grandma, Winry decided, had a strange group of friends.

"Hey granny, can you pass me that wrench over there?" Winry asked, placing the plate she had been steadily molding to perfection aside for a moment. Her grandmother looked up from her newspaper and nodded, pushing the tool to her granddaughter before going back to reading the article.

There was more laughing out in the living room and she rolled her eyes. The working men had taken a break and decided to spend some time with their old acquaintance, Pinako. Winry grumbled lightly as she observed her work and picked out some minor dents. She internally wished those men would improve their timing on visiting them - she had to finish this fast!

The senior woman sighed and placed the newspaper down, mumbling something about delinquents and crop season being bad this year.

"Winry, why don't you go down to workshop?" There was another boom of laughter from the room across her. Pinako frowned. "Before those fools make you lose your focus. Be careful not to tighten the bolt too hard now! You know what happened last time."

"Yeah, alright," Winry smiled sheepishly, grabbing the automail plate and jogging down to the basement to set up her work station once more. The voices were muffled enough that she did not lose her focus, which was just fine with her since she had to get this particular plate fixed up by tomorrow morning.

As Winry grabbed her wrench and began to bolt the plate back onto the automail arm, a sudden fear shot through her. The air surrounding her dropped to a chilling degree, making the hairs on her arm stand. A twisting feeling developed in her stomach as she felt another wave of the vile energy course through her. She nearly slammed the wrench down inside the plate at the sheer sharpness of it. She looked up to see that atmosphere had gone very still and she anticipated the worst.

Then, it started.

It was almost unnoticeable at first. The only sign of the tremble was the sloshing oil inside a canister on the table.

But it got worse.

She gripped the edge of her desk and stared at the wall with concealed horror. The walls seemed to ripple before her very eyes and she dropped her wrench in the shock of it. The ground shook violently beneath her, making her knees weak and her arms weaker as she fought to stay upright. Soon, it faded into nothing more than a menacing grumble and Winry felt the beginnings of terror mount inside her.

"Wh-what..." Winry gasped, a sick crawling sensation traveling up and down every inch of her body. Her vision blacked for several agonizing seconds before everything came rushing back into view. But that wasn't the end of it, it was what she saw after the blackout that made her scream.

Hands.

They erupted from the ground beneath her and latched onto her body greedily, desperately winding their filthy hands around her. Winry felt a tug deep inside of her, a tug that made her strangle out as cry for help. There was an invading feeling – a sense of loss – as she fought to keep the hungry hands away from her.

She dropped to her knees as her grandmother came stumbling in, calling out for her. She barely saw her grandmother clutch her chest.

The tugging became harsher, greater, and her lungs worked harder than ever to accept air. Winry gripped her chest, her eyes wide with horror as her head spun. The hands, they were deeper inside of her now, staining something that wasn't meant to be stained; touching something that wasn't meant to be touched.

Something within her felt cracked and dirty. Like she had committed a murder or a crime. She felt intense guilt, regret, remorse, pain, wrath, envy and every other negative emotion pile up at a staggering pace.

She'd never felt so conflicted in her life.

"Pinako!" One of her bodyguards came scrambling inside, looking pale and white. He was breathing heavily, as if inhaling air was a feat, before collapsing down the three steps and falling beside her grandma, who gripped the railing tightly as pain attacked her.

"It's.. started..." was all he managed to say.

"Hohenheim... when you get back," Pinako winced, sharp pains shooting throughout her chest. "I'm gonna clobber you.." Her hand fell limp beside her.

Winry was already on the floor, desperate for air as it thinned out and she was left with nothing but the terrible sensation of drowning. Her hand reached out weakly, eyes blurring images together, and for one brilliant moment she thought she saw Ed.

He was smiling at her, grinning that boyish grin of his as he waved. Alphonse as there, too, waving his armored arm at her. But all she could focus on was Ed, and his giant grin and golden eyes that burned like the midday sun. All she could concentrate on, cling onto, was the mirage that was Ed and that was slowly, cruelly, fading away as the pain reached a crescendo and her mind fuzzed in and out.

"No..." she whispered, stretching out her hand as far as it would go. "No, don't go.. don't leave.." Her eyes stung with tears as that washed out image of Ed slowly faded, as he turned his back to her and walked away, waving half-heartedly as he always did.

She shut her eyes, brought her other hand up to silence the cry of despair.

This cacophony of emotions that swirled within her. All of these voices that formed a disjointed melody within her head were making the simple action of blinking hard. Everything felt bad and wrong and the massive energy that pressed upon her made it impossible to stand up.

She could see her vision blotting black at the sides.

She could feel _it _with startling clarity.

Her time had come.

Her time had come and she had so many things she wanted to do, wanted to accomplish, wanted to _say._

So many regrets...

"Ed..."

Her hand fell limp as everything spiraled out of place, sending her tumbling down a tunnel with no end. She was terribly sure that this place she was heading to, this new feeling of bareness and vulnerability, was nothing compared to what awaited her once she actually stopped falling.


End file.
